Shame, belonging, failure, wanting and needing love. These are core concerns for children in foster care, but they are issues we all face. We are children of a God whose love is extravagant and unconditional. How does that reality help to heal our own insecurities and equip us to restore others?  

The great commission to go and make disciples of all nations and Jesus’ declaration that, when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be my witnesses, have often felt like a call to share information. There is important information to share, but if we look back at our first week and the definition expanded, […]

It may seem almost natural to love our own team. It’s no big challenge to be devoted to the people who are on our side, our party, our school, our church, our neighborhood.  But the call of Christ is to bless the opposition. This means not restricting our love to those we define as loveable, […]

Resurrection and resulting resurrection life are both done by the Spirit for us and not by us.  The night before the crucifixion, Jesus prepares his followers for his death and for the coming of the Holy Spirit. He doesn’t tell the disciples and us how to form resurrection life in ourselves, but simply tells us […]

We live in a world that is constantly in transition.  What is true of the world is also true of the church. In this complex context, many today are asking the question, “Where do I fit in?”  The sermon attempts to show that there is permanence and belonging in Christ. Guest Speaker: Dan Jackson, President […]

Many of us feel as though we just need to live with guilt.  After all, it is our place and our state of being, right? In Romans 3:23, the Bible says “all have sinned and fallen short.”  Though God never intended for us to live within this emotional and spiritual state, it has been the […]

No one can be asked to do better than their best.  Win or lose—Gold, Silver, Bronze or no medal, if we each do our best, there can be a certain satisfaction in a race well run. And doing our best, giving our “all” in the places where we put our energy is God honoring. Excellence […]

Here is a value often missing in our world.  There seems to be an increasing interest in only respecting oneself, but Scripture calls us to “show proper respect” for everyone. How would this change our world? Respect is a call to be fair, knowing your own limits while taking care of yourself and the people […]

How important to you is the value of having friends—someone who “gets” you? What are the traits exemplified by friends for one another?  Proverbs 17:17 says “A friend loves at all times!”  How can we develop the traits that make it easy for us to be friends? And what does it mean when Jesus says […]

When the multicultural family of God comes together, it can be messy. How do we know honors God and edifies his people? We read in Scripture “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and […]